1980 Mk1 for parts on the bay

[trabitom99]

Well done on your buy - all the things you've mentioned certainly sound as if the car is saveable. The doors from an early MkII with the front quarterlights and the older-style mirrors should also fit and silver is a colour which might turn up if you're patient. Door hinge pins are still available from Volvo and a water pump should be easy to find.

If you want to keep the car original, it's good that everything including the interior is intact, dirty things can be cleaned up That the nose cone is still solid is great news, they are difficult to source and are usually not in the colour you want

The sunroof might be a pain, be careful how you open it after all this time ... The seal from a VW 1303 / Golf 1 will fit as a direct replacement (search the forum for some more details on that).

If you find the time to post some more pics that'd be great!

Cheers

Tom

[Hell Driver]

Hi, thanks for posting the ebay link trabitom99! It was your post that led me to ebay. (I do look on ebay regularly, but hadn't spotted it at that time). Before I went to see the car I feared the worst about the interior, especially with the hint that it might have been drifted, but from what I remember it's ok under all the dust. The rust underneath does look really bad in places, especially front foot wells/outrigger and rear jacking points. I'm picking the car up tomorrow, so will post some pics. I took a couple on wednesday on my phone so I'll post them in a few minutes.

[volvodspec]

well done Helldriver! another nice mk1 saved.

in numbers; i know there is around 100 343's/345's known in holland, from wich about 30 are from 1980 or older

[Hell Driver]

It doesn't look too bad on the photos! Underneath is a different story! (note the mandatory bead seat cover )

The clocks even telling the right time, 7 o'clock when I arrived! (It's probably only right twice a day )

[volvosneverdie]

looks brand new!
well, from those three angles anyway.

[Hell Driver]

wait till you see the doors, they are the worst I've ever seen, even in scrapyards

[volvosneverdie]

wait till you see the doors, they are the worst I've ever seen, even in scrapyards

Oh dear. We best keep an eye out for broken but solid eary mk2s then.

[Hell Driver]

Yes, it might be that bad, the skins are certainly gone, not sure about the bottom edge of the door, I didn't look. The drivers side also had a filled dent which was breaking up, overpainted with hammerite. This car certainly will take a lot of work. The rear outer wheel arches were good, which helps

[volvodspec]

early mk2 (83) doors are probably no good unless you're a skilled welder.
bodypanels on the inside are different and have other mounting positions.

[Hell Driver]

Thanks for that, thats worth remembering to save a lot of trouble! I've only ever seen the inside of my previous (now stolen) MK1 doors, I've never had the door cards off my Mk2 or MK3. I wonder how you re-skin a door, time for some research...

[Chris_C]

It could turn into a giant game of hunt the mark 1's! or we could try spotting them on google earth

There is one on the island, yellow, 345. I keep meaning to knock on it's door, but last time I went round it wasn't there :'(

Foggy, you do realise to resto cars, you need to take that red coffee stand you bought 18months ago, and plug it in right? Metal glue comes out the end of the bit that looks like a fuel pump

[macplaxton]

Thanks for that, thats worth remembering to save a lot of trouble! I've only ever seen the inside of my previous (now stolen) MK1 doors, I've never had the door cards off my Mk2 or MK3. I wonder how you re-skin a door, time for some research...

Re-skinning isn't too bad, it's rebuilding the bottom of the rusty door frame that's a pain.

You can get (or used be able to) just the bottom of the door shell and bottom of the skin as an aftermarket replacement, but even that stuff is becoming a "when it's gone, it's gone" kind of stock part.

[SteveP]

I'm wondering if it'd be easier to modify a pair of good doors from a Mk2/Mk3... is there any way you can fit the quarter light and pillar into these?

[trabitom99]

early mk2 (83) doors are probably no good unless you're a skilled welder.
bodypanels on the inside are different and have other mounting positions.

That's true - I just had a look at the parts catalogue. Only the outer panel of an '83 door is the same which would mean difficult re-skinning.

So that narrows down the search to a 1976 - 1982 door. That's all of the Mk1 model years and the very first Mk2 "phase 1" MY (up to chassis number 709999) which were still called "343" (rather than 340) and had the older style dash.

Silver was introduced in 1978, but I don't know if the colour code was any different to yours ...

Cheers

Tom

[Hell Driver]

Just been to get the car, doors are pretty bad along the bottom, off out now but will get a better look in the light tomorrow and post some better pics (can't get the car over the pit yet- too many volvos jammed in the garage/drive to move , here's some pics from 2day. Thanks for all the help and ideas guys, keep them coming !